Rapt Sorrow
by Soran Shade
Summary: Sonic and his friends have been transformed into humans and
1. Thoughts and Escape

I obviously don't own any Sonic characters or characters from the Sonic the Hedgehog Archie comics. So moving along, I present chapter one in what will inevitably be a fairly long story, although a good story nonetheless.

Rapt Sorrow Chapter 1: Thoughts and Escape

Gathered in the courtroom were several guards, a judge, and an evil genius. It was getting rather late and the judge's trigger finger seemed to be getting itchier by the moment.

"Dr. Ivo Robotnik, who goes by the alias Dr. Eggman. I am quite surprised to at last see you apprehended," said the judge. Eggman sits still with his head down saying nothing.

"Why so silent? You don't have anything to say even after all of your horrific crimes against our people?"

Eggman looks up at him and grins. "How long do you plan on holding me here? Before you know it I'll be free in the streets to conquer the world once again," Eggman said.

"You'll not break free from here tonight over my dead body!" yelled the judge. "Hmm. That can be arranged," said Eggman in a menacing tone. "You disgust me! Guards, remove him at once!" the judge said angered.

Before the guards could react, the ground shook violently, and gunshots were heard in the distance. "Unit 3, respond! Damn, what the hell is going on!" a guard said. Eggman begins to laugh maniacally. "Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! I'm down here E-909!" Eggman laughs.

The ceiling crumbles as a group of robots descend into the room. "Stop them, they must not escape!" After another explosion or two, Eggman leaves a present for them. "Sayonara! Better luck next time!" Eggman said, as he escaped into the night.

Three days ago….

"Oh man! Why does school have to be so boring? I can't wait until PE," Sonic said. A guy with red dreadlocks and a pair of sunglasses looks at him. "I hear ya man! Every time I walk into that classroom, I feel as though I've wasted some time, except to catch up on sleep that is," he said.

"But you're always sleeping during class Knuckles," Sonic replied not to enthusiastically.

"Look, there's Shadow. What's up Mr. Angst?" Sonic said sarcastically. Shadow stares at him and continues moving various objects around in his locker.

"You guys hear about Eggman?" a large man with green hair says to two kids. "Is that Vector?" Knuckles asked. "Yeah, I haven't seen him much since he got a job as janitor here. I here he has a thing for Cream's mom" Knuckles sighed and said, "That job must suck."

"You got a problem with Vector?" The kid with purple hair said. "I don't have a problem with kickin' your butt," Knuckles said, acting very competitive. "Why you damn bast-" Espio began to say before being cut off.

"Hey, knock it off you too, or I'll send ya both to the office!" Vector said, with a serious look on his face. "You wouldn't do that to your pal would you Vector?" Charmy asked innocently. "Of course I wouldn't, but while I'm at work, I have to do my job," Vector said as Sonic and Knuckles walk off.

"Those three are always up to something," Knuckles said to no one in particular. "Like throwing those rotten watermelons it your locker or using those polka dotted underpants of yours as blackmai-" Sonic began. "Quiet you! Chicks might be watching…" Knuckles said.

"So what is Charmy doing here anyway?" Sonic stopped what he was doing for a moment and then answered, "Well this school goes from grades K-12 now." Cream and Tails run by as both of them stand there.

The first bell rings, and kids start walking to class. "Well, I'll see you at the track meet, later Sonic." Sonic sits there for a moment as if he forgot something. "Oh, I forgot. How's Amy doing?" Knuckles stares at him in confusion. "What, you mean you haven't visited her yet? Amy moved so she could go to school here." Sonic didn't seem surprised.

"Anyway, I'll see you later Knuckles," Sonic waved goodbye to him, "and don't let Rouge bother you too much ok?" Knuckles cringed at the very mention of her name. After that, they parted ways.

Eventually, lunchtime comes along. Sonic sits down with Knuckles at a table, and they begin to eat. "Hey Sonic. Did you get the answer to number three?" Sonic looks at Knuckles' paper. "What's this? A drawing of an egg with a flamethrower?" Knuckles chuckled. "Oh yeah, I got bored…" Sonic sighed. "You weren't supposed to draw all over the parabola you know." Knuckles growled a little and said, "Man, I hate Trigonometry."

Two girls come over to the table and sit down. "Hey there Sonic!" the two girls said at the same time. Knuckles frowns at Sonic. "Well hello Mr. Ladies Man."

"It's not as pleasant as you might think Knuckles." The girl with blonde hair speaks up. "Hey, don't you ignore me like I'm Amy or something!" An awkward silence floods the table. "Cut it out Bunnie," Sonic said, "and what's your deal Sally?" Neither of the two seem to respond.

"You get what I mean Knuckles?" Knuckles is shivering madly where he sits and manages to give a shaky nod. "What…are…they…?" Sonic pauses and sighs before responding. "Obsessed fans."

Shadow strolls over to the table. "Sonic. Coach wanted you to know that there will be a change in plans for the track meet today." He scratches his head for a moment. "You'll be running instead of Espio."

Sonic stands up suddenly. "What happened to Espio?" Shadow turns around and takes a step. "Unfortunate accident in the courtyard. He was playing with explosives again." Knuckles tries to hold back his laughter. "Not again!"

Shadow turns back around and stares at Knuckles. "You got a problem with something? Eh, Mr. Polka Dot underpants?"

Knuckles gets up and yells at shadow, "I said enough already!"

Amy looked around the lunchroom. She hadn't seen Sonic all day. "I hope he's here today," she thought to herself. Just then she spotted him at a table with Knuckles, and… Oh my goodness! Bunnie and Sally? "Oh, I see you have better things to do!" Amy said as she stormed off. "Amy? Wait!" Sonic calls out to her.


	2. Races and Dreams

Rapt Sorrow Chapter 2: Races and Dreams

The stands stood still. Gathered together in the stands were Amy, Knuckles, Rouge, and several others. The announcer speaks, "Welcome to Emerald Grove High's first track meet. Today you will witness feats of speed and agility. Without further delay, we shall begin the first event."

Time goes by slowly, and events go by slower. Finally, the long awaited One Mile Race is about to begin. "All runners take your places." Sonic and Shadow line up at the starting position, waiting for the race.

"Ready to lose Faker?" Sonic glances at him and responds, "Just watch, you'll be eating my dust!" The count down began. "On your marks, get set…. GO!"

Right as Sonic and Shadow begin, everyone else is left in a cloud of beige dust. "Isn't it amazing? The school's two fastest runners already ahead, even after a short amount of time!"

Sonic looks to his right at shadow and gives him a "thumbs up". Shadow speeds ahead about an inch and looks back at him. 15 seconds and they've both already finished their first lap. Everything seems frozen in time as they continue their run, unaware that they've lapped everyone more than twice.

Amy sits staring musingly at Sonic. She wished she hadn't run out on him earlier at lunch. "I don't believe that I could've been so mean to him," she thought to herself. "Something troubling you dear," Cream's mother, Vanilla, asked. "Oh no, nothing at all." Amy didn't feel so excited.

A white haired girl arrives and sits between Knuckles and Amy. "What's the matter sugar? You seem down," Rouge asked bewildered. "It's nothing, really," she lied. "Don't give me that. I know when I see a sad face," Rouge said sensibly," you're worried about something right?" Amy looked straight at her. "How did you-" Rouge quieted her. "You want to keep it secret right?"

Sonic and Shadow were on their fourth lap just seconds away from the goal. "I'm going to do it. I going to beat Sonic," Shadow thought to himself. "Too close…" Sonic thought. "Goal!" Both of them passed the finish line. "We should find out who won in just a moment…Oh my, It's a tie!"

"Not bad, not bad at all Sonic." Sonic wiped off his forehead and replied, "Your not so bad yourself Shadow."

Back in the stands, it was nearly unanimous that the two were a hit, even the other team cheered for them. "Wow, Mr. Sonic and Mr. Shadow did it!" Cream shouted as Cheese bounced on her shoulder.

"Wait just a moment…" A silence covered the field like one of Espio's smoke bomb frenzies. "Unbelievable, they both finished in EXACTLY one minute!" The crowd, swarmed with joy once more and another announcement came on. "It's a new world record!"

Back in the locker room, Shadow and Sonic are getting cleaned up. "I can't believe it. With speed like that, you should take on Eggman in a race," Shadow smirked. "That terrorist? No way!" They continued in awkward silence until Shadow spoke up.

"You didn't give it everything you got did you?" Sonic paused and answered him, "You held back too didn't you?" Shadow pretended to act surprised. "Some how, something calls out to me. It says that I am a hero, reborn." An eyebrow is raised. "You believe that voice?" Shadow asked him. "I don't know what to believe. Do you have any weird things like that happen to you?"

Shadow seemed to drift into pain as he stood there. "You don't have to answer," Sonic finally replied, "well, see you later Shadow." Shadow stood still for a moment until he said, "See you later Sonic."

On his way home, Shadow pondered Sonic's question some more. "A voice calls out to me. It says, 'Shadow, you are the Ultimate being.'" The only thing he could remember from his dream was himself screaming the name Maria, and then an explosion. "Who is Maria?" he thought. Shadow dropped to his knees and screamed out in pain, "MARIA!"

Amy's apartment was a pink hell to Rouge. She ignored it for the greater good. "What happened between you and Sonic earlier?" Rouge asked inquisitively. Amy began to tell her.

Sonic chased after her. "Amy wait," Sonic said as he grabbed her arm. "Let go of me!" Amy yelled through her tears. "Just listen to me for a moment okay?" he said. Amy stopped struggling. "Bunnie and Sally don't matter to me like you do. They are just friends to me. But you, you are special to me," he said gazing into her glittering eyes.

"Please don't run from me anymore." Amy moved closer to him. "You don't go running away from me either." Laughing is heard in the background. "Oh man did you just screw yourself!" Knuckles laughed. "Shut up, you punk!" Sonic stepped toward him. "Knuckles. Hey look its Rouge!" Knuckles fell from his spot on the 10-foot tall fence and landed on the ground. "Oh my god! Run for your life!" Knuckles said as he ran.

"I wasn't there was I?" Rouge asked. "Nope," Amy said reassuringly, "Sonic just made that up to mess with Knuckles." Rouge laughed. "That poor fool. I still love him though."

Amy looked up just then. "What did you just say?" Amy startled Rouge. "Oh, nothing!"

"Don't be so shook up if it went well. Okay?" After a few more minutes of girl talk, Amy asks Rouge a question. "Rouge, have you ever loved someone?" Rouge turned bright red. "Um, well his hair definitely not the same color as my face right now…" Amy giggled and said, "Oh I see. You like Knuckles don't you?"

"Well this has been great and all, but I've got to go now Amy. See you tomorrow!" After Rouge left, Amy began to write a letter. "You helped me, so I'll help you…"

Vector and Charmy entered the dreaded white halls. "Dang it! Why do hospitals have to be so creepy," Vector said. "Don't be so silly Vector. Hospitals are calm places." They approached the receptionist. "Hello, how may I help you?" Vector hesitated to respond. "MAY I HELP YOU OR NOT!" Charmy turned gray like the concrete outside. "See what I mean?" Charmy nodded his head.

"Uh, we're looking for Espio's room." The receptionist typed something into a computer and turned to them. "Room 07." Both of them nodded and headed toward room 07. Vector entered the room with Charmy following him.

"So how are ya doing Espio?" Espio sat up and looked at them. "Well I'll be okay. I should be able to go home tomorrow." Charmy seemed ecstatic. "Please don't play with your dangerous toys at school anymore okay?" Espio nodded in agreement.

Cream, Cheese, and Tails were having a little tea party. "Mr. Sonic sure is fast isn't he Tails?" Tails takes a sip of his tea. "He sure is. Um, Cream?" Cream seemed curious. "Yes?" Tails seemed a little embarrassed to respond. "Here, I got these for you," he said as he handed her a bouquet of ginger colored flowers. "Wow, they're so pretty! Thank you!" Cream gave Tails a little kiss on the cheek and he blushed.

The doorbell rang just then. "Mama! Someone is at the door." Vanilla came from the kitchen and answered the door. "Why hello Big. What brings you here?" Big looked around for a moment before he answered. "Hello. Have you seen Sonic?" Vanilla stood there for a moment and then glanced at her watch. "He's running a little late to pick up Tails. He should be here any minute. You can come in for a moment and wait for him if you like."

"Thank you!" Big sat down next to Tails. "So Mr. Big, how's football going for you?" Cream asked. "It's great, but Knuckles is a little rough though. Has Vector been troubling you?" Tails took a sip of his tea. "Oh no, not at all. Do you want some tea Mr. Big?" Big seemed delighted at the offer. " Why sure I would."

After a few more minutes the doorbell rang again. Vanilla answered it. "Hey Tails, time to go home." Tails finished his tea and said goodbye to Cream, Cheese, and Vanilla. "Hey Big, what are you doing here?" Big finished his tea and said, "I'll tell you all about it outside."

"A message from Amy?" Big turned to face him. "Yeah. She wants to see you tomorrow at lunch. Alone!" Laughter is heard from somewhere. "Oh man did you just screw yourself!" Sonic looked at him irritated. "Go home already!"

Shadow stared at the ceiling restlessly. He had been staring at it for the past hour. "I can't seem to sleep," He thought. There was a rustling downstairs. "It must be Rouge. She sure was out late though." He thought about his roommate for a while and drifted to sleep.

He opened his eyes and found himself in a bathroom. A girl with peach hair stood there. "Shadow, you must realize the truth. Remember, I am Tikal." After that she disappeared.

Shadow heard gunshots and explosions. Then he looked into the mirror. Breathless quiet seized him as he realized this image was like him, but as a hedgehog. He looked behind him as the door opened. A blonde haired girl entered the room panicked. "Shadow, we have to get out of here while we still can. G.U.N. is here!"

She pulled him out into the corridor. They ran into a large control room. I'll get the escape pods ready. Horror grabbed Shadow as loud banging was heard outside the room. "They mustn't escape! Kill them if you have to!" Shadow became more terrified by the moment.

"Please come with me!" Shadow pleaded to the girl. "I will, but there's not enough room for both of us in there." The doors were broken down, and men with the word "gun" on their uniforms burst into the room. "There they are, stop them!"

Suddenly the girl thrust him into an escape pod. "Shadow!" She spoke something to him, yet he responded like he wasn't in control. "I promise…" The door's of the escape pod closed and Shadow was detached from the station and shot off toward earth. He saw a dark crimson explosion consume the colony where the girl was. Shadow saw was a faint shimmer of light speeding away. Last thing he heard was himself screaming, "MARIA!"

Shadow screamed and sat up in bed. He looked at the clock, and discovered it was morning time. "It was a dream…but it was so real."


	3. Technology and Why did you break my back...

I know I haven't written in a while, but here it is the long awaited chapter 3. I would like to receive more feedback so please read and review! The robots are coming! Bad robots and also good ones will debut in this chapter. At least a few will. Just so you know, it begins to get a whole lot better from here on; also the sorrow is coming up. We can't forget that, after all it's in the title.

Rapt Sorrow Chapter 3: Technology and Why did you break my back?

Shadow sat in his seat. Spanish class bored him. All he ever did was copy Knuckles' paper, but then again, maybe that's a bad idea. A girl with purple hair sits down in the seat in front of him, and at the same time steps on his foot. "Aah!" The girl turned around. "Oh, I'm sorry. I always seem to step on your foot." Shadow looked up at her. "It's alright Mina."

Just then, a guy with black hair enters the room and sits down next to Mina. "Hi, Ash!" Shadow began thinking to himself, "Ash? Who is Ash?" He seemed rather surprised to catch himself thinking about such things. "Psst, Knuckles," Shadow whispered. "No, you can't copy my notes hombre," Knuckles said. "No, I want to ask you something."

Knuckles sighed before replying, "What is it?" Shadow then said, "Who is that?" Knuckles looked over at Ash. "That's Ash. He's Mina's manager, and her boyfriend." Shadow began to boil. He stood up suddenly and yelled, "¡Qué!" Everyone looked at him. The instructor then yelled at him, "Shadow, sit down! As I was saying, study for your test on regular and irregular verbs in the past tense, and that means don't steal Knuckles' paper. Class dismissed."

It was now lunchtime. Amy had told Sonic to meet her here for something. She saw him walking by. "What are you doing?" She said to him. "What do you mean?" Sonic answered. "You were supposed to meet me here ASAP!" Sonic scratched his head.

"Oh yeah, that's right." Amy sighed. "It's to late to go over it now. You'll have to come by my apartment after school." Sonic began to feel sorry for himself. He couldn't think of a half reasonable excuse to get out of it so he replied, "Sure, why not?"

"I thought you were supposed to be out of the hospital by now." Vector said. "It was a bigger injury than they thought," Espio said, "I took one step and collapsed." Vector laughed. "Maybe you shouldn't throw those exploding ninja stars of yours around at school." Espio sat up in his bed.

"I wasn't throwing my ninja stars again. I was working on an exploding smoke bomb." Vector's jaw dropped to the floor. "What the heck are you doing building something like that?" Espio smiled. "It's a secret."

Sonic walked into the pink room. "So what's this all about, Amy?" Sonic said. "Well, I'm going to set up Knuckles a-" Amy said before being interrupted. "Your going to set up Knuckles!" he said surprised.

"I'm not finished. As I was saying…" she said. Amy began to whisper in his ear. "You're going to set up Knuckles and Rouge on a date?" Sonic said yet again surprised. "Exactly. So here's what I need you to do."

Shadow didn't really believe what he had just done. "Am I jealous?" He thought to himself, "no, that's as stupid as Knuckles." An awkward, "Hey!" is heard in the background. "Damn he heard me." Ash approached him. "Something on your mind Shadow?" Ash asked him. "Like what?" Shadow responded. "Like my Mina!" He yelled at Shadow. "What are you talking about?" Shadow said coolly.

"Don't play games with me. I know what your sudden outburst was about." Ash said approaching Shadow defiantly. "What's your problem punk! You seriously don't want to mess with me on a bad day," Shadow said bitterly. "You're the problem around here!" Ash yelled.

Shadow began to have another strange vision. "You're the problem around here! You and all these other worthless experiments," a guard says as he spits on Shadow, "ultimate life form eh? You disgust me. Let's see Maria save you know." Shadow broke out of his temporary trance, and started going berserk.

"Eh, What's wrong with you?" Shadow jumped in the air screaming loudly. As he dropkicked Ash, he heard a sickening crack. He then circled him and homing attacked him repeatedly, until he just broke out of his current state.

"Wha… What am I doing?" Shadow's scream rang through the silence. Miraculously, Ash manages to get up and limps away leaving Shadow alone in the street.

Shadow didn't see Ash get up and leave.

Rouge and Knuckles were sitting together in the restaurant. "I can't believe this is actually happening," Knuckles thought to himself. "Well, how are you Knuckles?" Rouge asked him. "Oh, I'm fine." The two of them are eating their food through the awkward silence. Rouge speaks up suddenly. "The nerve of those two! Setting us up on a date." Knuckles acted a bit panicked. "It's okay, really. How about we go on a date to Twinkle Park tomorrow?" Rouge's eyes lit up. "Really?" Knuckles nodded. "Yeah, really."

Disguised in the background was Sonic and Amy. "It's just so great…" Amy said with a tear in her eye. "It doesn't seem all that great to me," Sonic said. "Sonic?" Amy said. "Yeah, what?" Amy moved closer to him. "Will you go on a date with me to Twinkle Park?" Sonic began to think. "I had better or I'll never hear the end of it," he thought to himself. "Sure, why not?"

The day's light sank below the earth and man-made lights took over the night. Children that were once outside, are now tucked away, sleeping until the light showed itself again. The last two things heard that night were the screams of men and the laughter of a madman.

Shadow got up at the first signs of light in the sky. After he got dressed, he realized it was Friday. There was no school today for some reason. The administration never said why. "Oh well, another day off I guess," he thought to himself. He decided to watch the news since nothing good was bound to be on so early in the morning.

Ping! The screen lit up and the sounds faded in slowly. "Late last night, Dr. Ivo Robotnik, AKA Dr. Eggman, escaped military custody last night during his trial. GUN officials have no comment at this time, except that they've raised the priority of security in order to protect our city's citizens until he is captured."

"In other news, Neotype Industries has released information on its new MECHAOS models. Chief Engineer Soran Shade has this to say." A strange man appeared on the screen with jet-black hair and dressed in all white. "We are proud to announce that the new RAEDIN type MECHAOS are now complete and are in the process of being mass produced. With this new powerful machine, not even Dr. Eggman will threaten the public."

A reporter asks him a question, "Do you have any other new projects in development?" Soran replies, "Yes, but I can't say exactly what except for the name 'VANTA'." Shadow turned off the TV. "So Eggman has escaped. I sure hope GUN can put a stop to him with those new machines."

His computer lets out a strange noise sounding like, "You've got mail!" Shadow sits down at the computer and reads the message.

_Dear Shadow,_

_I have a new simulation for you down at the arcade._

_Steve,_

_PS You should get rid of that dam AOL and get Mozilla Firefox instead._

Just then his browser crashed. "Stupid AOL!" Shadow then went outside for a while.

Shadow arrived at the arcade. No one would ever guess that he was the type who'd sit on his butt playing video games. Well not really. He plays the new semi realistic simulators where you live it, but not die in it of course. "There you are Shadow," Steve said. "Hi Steve. So what's this new simulation you've got for me?" Steve began to smile. "It's a battle simulator featuring Neotype Industries' new RAEDIN type MECHAOS."

Shadow raised his left eyebrow. "Who's it from?" Steve paused for a moment. "It's from Soran Shade himself. He says that you should give it a try." Shadow seemed reluctant. "Hmm. He hasn't released the simulator for the SHADE type yet has he?" Steve looks at him surprised. "You didn't know? It came out yesterday." Shadow's jaw dropped. "Wow! I guess I've got two games to try out." Steve jumped up just then. "You're really going to do both of them in one day?"

"Yeah, really. Why do you ask?" Shadow questioned. "Well most people can only do one simulation on this machine a day. That's because of the effects it has on your body. It drains you literally. I'm surprised you didn't know that Shadow, especially considering you're the only person who even dares to use the simulator," Steve said. "Come on! I've done ten in one day and haven't had any physical side effects," Shadow informed him. "Well go ahead and try them out then."


	4. Saturday night fun with a side of terror

It's been a while I know, but at long last I present chapter 4. Please read and review!

* * *

Rapt Sorrow Chapter 4: Saturday night fun, with a side of terror.

Shadow left the arcade when he got bored of beating all the newbies at every possible difficulty and handicap. "EVP is kinda freaky eh?" some random passerby said. Shadow began to think for a moment.

As he thought, his surroundings changed as though he imagined where he was. "Space Colony Ark..." he thought. He saw parts of that same dream he saw before flash before him. He remembered it all, the soldiers, the running, Maria…. The artificial surroundings abruptly disappeared, and Shadow was back on the street.

Sally walked by and noticed Shadow standing there, staring off into his abyss of endless angst. "Hey Shadow! What cha' doin'?" Shadow turned toward her abruptly and stared at her with the most terrifying glare she had ever seen. "What do you want! You just going to stand there looking at me like I committed a crime!"

"It wasn't me! It wasn't my fault she's dead! For crying out loud its that damned GUN! Why should you deserve to pity me like this! No one likes you anyway!" Shadow's screaming no longer began to make any legible sense after that. And after Sally stood through every second of Shadow's seemingly drunken madness she ran off frightened and in tears.

"Now remind me, Amy," Sonic said puzzled "Why in the world are we going to Twinkle Park with Knuckles and Rouge?" Amy straightened his collar. "You promised me we'd go on a date, and besides, Rouge wanted to thank me for helping her." Sonic loosened his noose like tie before he turned blue. "You didn't do it by yourself you know." Amy pulled a hammer from her purse and whacked him upon his sacred head. "Don't be silly dear, it was my idea all along," she said laughing maniacally. "Oh dear, you've fainted. I'll just set you down on the couch, pull out my almighty hammer of persuasion and…"

Sonic stood up suddenly as good as new. "I'm up!" Amy laughed at him.

"Time to check the e-mail," Shadow said as he sat down. "You have one new message." He looked closely at the sender's name. "This must be Ash. How did he get my e-mail address?"

Dear Shadow,

I am inviting you; rather Mina is inviting you, to join us later this evening at Twinkle Park. Don't think I am out for revenge, because this is all Mina's idea.

P.S. You dropped your address book at our last "meeting."

Not So Sincerely Ash,

"So that's where it went. Who does he think he's fooling? He obviously wants revenge, so I'd better dress to kill." Just then a dress fell out of his closet. "Not what I meant."

"Oh I can't believe it. Twinkle Park is so beautiful at night!" Amy exclaimed. "So tell me, Amy. For whom are we waiting?" Sonic asked sarcastically. "Knuckles." Sonic seemed shocked. "Knuckles?" Amy sighed and then responded, "Yes, Knuckles and Rouge." Sonic began to snicker. "Oh man I don't believe this!" Amy frowned at him. "Don't be rude here they come now."

A rather well dressed couple approaches them. "Whoa, who is this gentleman, Rouge?" Sonic asked. "Are you stupid or something? It's Knuckles!" Sonic gasped. "Knuckles is that you, wearing clean clothes and enough cologne to make a large animal sick?" Knuckles stared coldly at him. "Very funny Sonic, and I see you've settled down with your worst nightmare." Amy threw her hammer at him and glared menacingly. "What did you say?" Knuckles got up off the ground and said, "Nothing… Ouch…"

Shadow parked his car outside the building. "So this is where Mina lives?" Shadow stepped out of the car and strolled up to the door. He rang the doorbell after a moment of hesitation. An older looking Mina-like person answered the door. "Hello?" Shadow stammered for a bit. "Mina?" The figure laughed. "Oh, no. I'm her mother. Come in."

"I thought Ash was taking her to Twinkle Park? Is there a change in plans?" Shadow thought back to the e-mail he received earlier. "No, Is Ash here yet?" Just then the doorbell rang in an ominous tone. Mina's mother let the person in. Ash has arrived. "Aren't you a little early shadow? I thought we were picking you up?" Ash said sarcastically. "Oh don't be silly. I thought it would be better if we went in my car." Ash looked at him funny. "You have a car? I thought you walked here." Shadow smiled. "I came in that shiny black car you undoubtedly saw on your way in." Shadow peeked outside at Ash's mode of transportation. "Wow, a white van. That'll definitely pick up girls." Ash glared furiously at him. "Why you?" Just then Mina came downstairs. "Well shall we go now?"

"You certainly have a nice car Shadow," Mina said politely. "Thank you. It must be very different for you," Shadow said. "It handles much better than the tour bus that Ash drives around." Shadow laughed. "I bet it does." Shadow thought for a moment. "Wait a sec! Tour bus?" Mina seemed surprised to hear him say that. "Haven't you heard? I am a singer." Shadow continued his focus on driving. "Oh…" Ash spoke up just then. "Ahem." Mina looked over at him. "Oh, I'm sorry Ash." Ash just sighed for a moment. "Welcome to Twinkle Park."

Some time later…

"Wow hasn't this been fun?" Mina said excitedly. "Yes, it has," Ash said glaring at Shadow. "Don't be like that Ash. Are you jealous?" Ash froze. "Jealous of what?" Ash asked inquisitively. "Jealous of Shadow." Shadow spit out the soda he was drinking. "Jealous? Don't be silly." He was interrupted by Mina when she spotted something. "Oh look! The arcade!" Ash began groan. "Oh, please. Not right now Mina." Mina turned to him happily. "Come on Ash. Just one game." Ash seemed a bit relieved. "Fine." Mina suddenly spoke up. "One game of DDR!" Ash's jaw dropped to the ground. "Oh god…"

"You suck! Game over," the voice from the game said. Ash was panting heavily. "Is… is it over yet?" Mina laughed at him. "Yes it is. Get up silly. A little dancing can't be that bad." Shadow stepped up to the machine. "No it can't," Shadow said as he put in some money.

"Perfect, just perfect. I'm still crying," the voice from the game said sadly. "Oh my god!" Ash screamed before he fainted. "Wow! You're really good Shadow. Do you play often?" Shadow wiped his forehead and picked up Ash off the ground before answering. "No not really."

"Well look who it is! What's up Shadow?" Sonic said. "Sonic? What are you doing here?" Shadow asked surprised. "I could ask you the same thing Angsty." Shadow didn't seem amused. "I told you not to call me that!" Shadow jumped up. "Oh my… Is that Knuckles?" Sonic gave a simple nod. Shadow broke out in laughter. "Oh this is just so great." Knuckles, now vastly offended, glares evilly at him. "You got something to say?"

"Boys knock it off!" Amy and Rouge said in unison, "Oh, hi Mina!" Mina bowed to them. "Hello Amy. Hello Ms. Rouge." Rouge seemed flattered. "Oh please. Just call me Rouge." Ash revived from his "danced out" state. "Whoa! It's a happy gathering." Shadow let go of him. "Welcome back to reality Mr. Mongoose."

The earth shook violently for a moment. Screams could be heard all around. "What the hell was that?" Knuckles asked. "Ha, ha, ha, at last! The world will be mine!" a sinister voice shouted. Robots dropped from the sky, causing mass mayhem and panic. "Its Dr. Eggman! Run for your lives!" someone yelled. "We need to get out of here fast!" Sonic yelled. Amy screamed as they all saw a pillar about to fall upon them.

Everything froze. Shadow looked around. The girl from his dream appeared before them. "You must save them. You're the only one who can," The figure spoke. "Until their powers awaken, you must protect them." Shadow stood still. "Who are you?" He asked. "Do you not remember? I am Tikal." After that she vanished. Then another girl appeared. Shadow recognized here immediately. "Maria?" The blonde haired girl smiled and spoke. "Shadow, use your powers for good. Remember? You are the Ultimate Life Form!"

Everything snapped back to reality. Shadow jumped up into the air and homing attacked the falling pillar. "Let's go. Move!" They all began to leave the park. Once they had reached the entrance, group of robots surrounded them. "Looks like this is it guys," Sonic said. "No it's not! Chaos Spear!" The robots were pierced with an incredibly intense light that destroyed them all in a single blow. "Shadow, how did you?" Shadow interrupted them. "No time. Go!"

Shadow stood at the entrance. "Shadow we have to go," Sonic said. "I'll hold them off, just go!" Shadow yelled. "I'm not going anywhere. Knuckles take them to a safe place." Knuckles gave a thumbs up and ran off with the others. The robots began to surround them. "Ready?" Shadow asked. "Lets do this." They grabbed each other's hands and ran in circles. The running began to create a tornado as they ran faster. All of the robots became engulfed in the twister and are tossed around into their doom. Shadow and Sonic stop running. "Whoa, I'm dizzy." Sonic said. "Come on, let's go."

"Interesting. I've found at last Sonic! Oh and look, if it isn't Shadow," a mysterious voice said. "Who are you?" Shadow asked. "I am the great Dr. Eggman. Don't you remember? You must have lost your memories when we were sent to this world. You both used to be hedgehogs, and quite the nuisance. Now that you're humans, nothing can stop me from conquering the universe. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!" Shadow laughed. "Your insane old man. You should go back to the old folks home before your break a hip or something." Eggman stopped laughing. "How dare you! It's time to destroy you once and for all!"

"Just see if you can keep up old man. Chaos Control!" Shadow teleported behind Eggman. "Boo!" Eggman jumped. "Ah! Why you!" Sonic got up from his dizzy spell. "Shadow, be careful." Sonic crouched and began to spin fast. He let go and sped at the machine Eggman was seated on. Sonic broke through the machine sending it flying. "Blast you! You haven't heard the last of Dr. Eggman!"

"Did I just do that?" Sonic asked. "I don't know what's going on, but It has something to do with someone named Tikal," Shadow said, "she may know more about our strange abilities." Sonic sat for a moment and suddenly realized something. "Wait, did you say Tikal? She goes to our school. Apparently she's a psychic or something like that."

Shadow sat down next to Sonic. "She's been in my dreams telling me to remember my true past. Telling me to protect you guys until your powers had awakened." Sonic stood up. "Well it seems we had better go get some info. Lets go find the others." They left the burning park to find the truth.

"How is it I could see Maria? She's supposed to be dead. I still don't remember who she is though. The Ultimate Life Form, me? What's this all supposed to mean." A voice interrupts his sleep. "Destiny…"

* * *

Join us next time, when the fun really begins. The army vs. Eggman, Shadow steals a giant robot, and much more. 


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